Collapsible barbecue tools

ABSTRACT

A collapsible barbecue tool assembly includes a barbecue tool, a handle and a latch mechanism mounted in the handle. The handle includes an elongated cavity for slidably receiving a blade portion of the barbecue tool. The blade portion of the tool has one or more locating elements. The latch mechanism releasably engages one of the locating elements so that the tool is movable to and between a collapsed position and an extended position.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/729,603filed Dec. 4, 2000, currently pending, which in turn is a continuationof application Ser. No. 09/524,316, filed Mar. 13, 2000, now U.S. Pat.No. 6,170,161.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to cooking utensils and, more particularly, tobarbecue utensils that are collapsible between an extended position anda collapsed position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Barbecue tools, or utensils, are those which are commonly used with gasand charcoal grills. These tools commonly have long handles to reducethe possibility that the user will be burned by the open flame and highheat of the barbecue grill. However, long-handled barbecue tools aredifficult to store in the space normally used for storage of kitchenutensils because of their length. Furthermore, long-handled barbecuetools may not easily fit in a dishwasher. Finally, long-handled barbecuetools may be difficult to use because of their length, particularly whenused with a small barbecue grill or when used in a small space.

It is desirable to provide barbecue tools which have the safety featuresof long-handled barbecue tools, but which are easy to store and whichcan easily fit into a dishwasher.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a collapsible cooking tool assemblyis provided. The cooking tool assembly comprises a cooking tool having ahead and a handle-engaging portion. The handle-engaging portion has atleast two locating elements. The cooking tool assembly further comprisesa handle having a cavity for receiving the handle-engaging portion ofthe cooking tool and a latch mechanism mounted in the handle forreleasably engaging one of the locating elements. The cooking tool ismovable relative to the handle to and between a collapsed position andan extended position.

The cooking tool is preferably a barbecue tool. The head may comprise aturner, a fork, tongs, a basting brush, or any other desired head.

The handle-engaging portion may comprise a flat blade or strip, and thelocating elements may comprise openings in the blade. The latchmechanism may comprise a spring-loaded button having a latch element forengaging one of the openings, and a resilient button cover. The buttonis manually depressed to release the latch element from the opening inthe blade, so that the cooking tool is movable between the collapsedposition and the extended position, or vice versa.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein by referenceand in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a collapsible cooking tool assembly inaccordance with the invention, shown in the collapsed position;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the collapsible cooking tool assembly of FIG. 1,shown in the extended position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the collapsible cooking toolassembly, shown in the extended position;

FIG. 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the collapsible cookingtool assembly;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the handle and latch mechanism,taken along the line 5—5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the handle and latch mechanism,shown with the button depressed; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the collapsible cooking toolassembly, taken along the line 7—7 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An example of a collapsible cooking tool assembly in accordance with theinvention is shown in FIGS. 1-7. The cooking tool assembly includes acooking tool 10, a handle 12, and a latch mechanism 14. The cooking tool10 is movable relative to handle 12 to and between a collapsed positionshown in FIG. 1 and an extended position shown in FIG. 2. The cookingtool 10 locks in both the collapsed position, and in the extendedposition and is released from each position by manual actuation of thelatch mechanism.

The cooking tool 10 includes a head 20, which in the illustrated exampleis a turner, attached to a handle-engaging portion 22. The head 20 maybe a turner, as shown, a fork, tongs, a basting brush, or any otherdesired head. The handle-engaging portion 22 may be a thin, flat bladeor strip that slidably extends into handle 12 as described below.Preferably, the cooking tool 10 has a single-piece metallic constructionand may be fabricated of stainless steel.

The handle 12 has an elongated configuration and defines a cavity 30 forslidably receiving the blade portion 22 of tool 10. The handle 12 may beformed as an upper section 32 and a lower section 34 which are attachedtogether in the completed assembly. The handle sections 32 and 34 may beformed with internal support ribs 36, as best shown in FIG. 7, whichsupport the blade portion 22 of tool 10 between them. The upper section32 is provided with an opening 40, and the lower section 34 is providedwith an opening 42. The openings 40 and 42 permit mounting of latchmechanism 14. The cavity 30 is formed as an elongated slot andpreferably extends through the major portion of the length of handle 12.Preferably, the cavity 30 is just slightly larger than blade portion 22,so that tool 10 is securely supported in both the collapsed and extendedpositions. The handle may be fabricated of a rigid material with lowthermal conductivity, such as ABS plastic. The handle 12 may include ahole 26 for hanging the tool.

As best shown in FIGS. 4-7, latch mechanism 14 includes a button 50, aspring 52, and a button cover 54. (The spring 52 is omitted from FIGS. 5and 6). The button 50 is formed of a rigid material such as ABS plasticand includes a shell 56 defining a passage 58 for blade portion 22. Alatch element 60 projects upwardly into passage 58. An upward projection62 on button 50 contacts cover 54. The cover 54 is fabricated of aresilient material, such as rubber. The spring 52 is mounted in a recess68 in the lower section 34 of handle 12.

The latch mechanism 14 operates as follows. The blade portion 22 ofcooking tool 10 is provided with at least two locating elements, such asopenings 70 and 72, which define the collapsed and extended positions ofcooking tool 10 relative to handle 12. In a latched position in whichbutton 62 of latch mechanism 14 is not depressed, the spring 52 urgeslatch element 60 upwardly into opening 70 or 72 in blade portion 22,thereby locking the blade portion 22 relative to handle 12. To changefrom one position to the other, the latch mechanism 14 is activated to areleased position by manually depressing button cover 54 so that spring52 is depressed and latch element 60 is disengaged from opening 70 or72. In this position, the cooking tool 10 is released, and can be movedfrom the collapsed position to the extended position or from theextended position to the collapsed position. In particular, cooking tool10 is moved lengthwise into or out of cavity 30 in handle 12. Uponrelease of latch mechanism 14 by the user, spring 52 urges latch element60 into engagement with the appropriate opening 70 or 72 and latchescooking tool 10 in the desired position. It will be understood thatadditional positions can be provided by forming additional openings inblade portion 22. A pin 24 may be secured in blade portion 22 to preventcooking tool 10 from being entirely removed from handle 12.

It will be understood that any desired head can be used on the cookingtool. Furthermore, different latching mechanisms and different locatingelements on blade portion 22 may be utilized within the scope of theinvention.

While there have been shown and described what are at present consideredthe preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be obviousto those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An extendable barbecue tool comprising: a cookingtool including a head portion and a handle-engaging portion, thehandle-engaging portion having a top surface, a bottom surface andopposing sides; a handle having a cavity that slidably receives thehandle-engaging portion of the cooking tool, the cooking tool slidablewithin the cavity to and between a collapsed position and an extendedposition; a locating element within the handle-engaging portion of thecooking tool; a latch mechanism, operatively connected to the handle,including a latch element and a button within the handle, wherein thelatch element is of a shape that permits it to be located within thelocating element; the latch element is spring biased toward a surface ofthe handle-engaging portion of the cooking tool such that the latchelement, when aligned with the locating element, is releasably securedwithin the locating element to releasably secure the cooking tool in itsextended position; and wherein the button is operatively coupled to thelocating element such that when the button is depressed, the latchelement is urged against the spring bias to release the latch elementfrom the locating element enabling the cooking tool to move from itsextended position.
 2. The barbecue tool as claimed in claim 1 whereinthe handle also has a top surface and a bottom surface consistentrespectively with the top and bottom surfaces of the handle-engagingportion of the cooking tool, and wherein the button is depressible fromthe top surface of the handle.
 3. The barbecue tool as claimed in claim1 further including a second locating element within the handle-engagingportion of the cooking tool, the second locating element being spacedfrom the locating element along the longitudinal length of thehandle-engaging portion of the cooking tool, such that when the latchelement is releasably urged into the second locating element the cookingtool is releasably secured in its collapsed position.
 4. The barbecuetool as claimed in claim 1 wherein the locating element includes anopening that extends from the top surface fully through to the bottomsurface, and is spaced a distance from each of, and located between theopposing sides of the handle-engaging portion.
 5. The barbecue tool asclaimed in claim 4 wherein the latch element releasably extends fullythrough the opening when the cooking tool is in its extended position.6. The barbecue tool as claimed in claim 3 wherein each of the locatingelements includes an opening that extends from the top surface fullythrough to the bottom surface, and is spaced a distance from each of,and located between, the opposing sides of the handle-engaging portion.